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In my post Be aware of mainland China and Taiwan stronger manufacturing links in ICT [Sept 2] it has already been proven that mainland China and Taiwan are fast becoming essentially one in the important ICT sector. Moreover, it was a recent acceptance of IMT-Advanced (4G) for the next-generations of interactive mobile services, China is triumphant [Oct 24] as major effect of that acceptance. It is more visible for mainland China as for them the #1 issue is Could China close the gap in mobile Internet? It should! [July 21]. For Taiwan the issue in this regard was the one related to Intel dismisses WiMAX Program Office [July 1] only. With IMT-Advanced (4G) accepted by ITU the Taiwanese concern about their strong and already very much advanced WiMAX commitment has also been resolved since the WirelessMAN-Advanced within IMT-Advanced is in fact a kind of WiMAX 2.
With such triumphant continuation assured for both the Taiwanese mobile Internet as well as that of mainland China (see 3.9G TD-LTE rollout in 2012 with integrated 2G, 3G and 4G? [July 19]) for an ardent China technology watcher like myself the next issue is what about their cloud computing strategies?
For mainland China the most visible manifestations of any cloud foundation related strategies of their own have been the OPhone OS (OMS) 2.0 based on Android 2.1 [July 5] and the Mobile search SaaS battle [June 28]. On behalf of the large international ICT players, on the other hand, the most visible mainland China related cloud effort has been so far the SAP’s Business ByDesign SaaS to be relaunched on July 31 with mobility as one of key attractions [July 28] only. So a kind of core coverage has already been provided on my “Experiencing the Cloud” blog.
- Update: China Mobile Expands Cooperation With Taiwanese Suppliers on 4G Biz [Dec 30]
-With a TD-LTE (time division long term evolution) testing lab jointly established by Taiwanese end-user instruments makers in China becoming operational, China Mobile, one of China`s big three telecom service providers, will move to expand its cooperation with them on 4G business in the country soon.
Yvonne Li, president of Taiwan`s Far Eastone Telecommunications Co., Ltd., one of founders of the TD-LTE testing lab, has confirmed that several Taiwanese handset makers, including High Tech Computer (HTC) Corp. and Asustek Computer Inc., have sent their smartphones to the lab for testing, which will be adopted by China Mobile for launch in China in 2011 at the earliest.
Also, Taiwan-based MediaTek Inc., a globally leading handset IC designer, is expected to count on the lab to accelerate development of its chipsets for TD-LTE phones, industry insiders noted.
Through the testing lab, Li stressed that Taiwanese firms relative to 4G communications can tap China Mobile`s supply chain of 4G phones more easily in the future than before. In short, the lab will also help step up cooperation between the Chinese telecom service provider and Taiwanese manufacturers.
Li also indicated that his firm has moved to expand collaboration with China Mobile on value-added mobile services, with the former`s application software and e-book readers already available on the latter`s online shopping store. Prospectively, said, the cooperation will open the door wider to China`s e-book reader market for other Taiwanese firms in the future.
So far, China Mobile has decided to set up over 3000 TD-LTE base stations in six metropolises, such as Beijing and Shanghai, in China, and, to counter underdevelopment of related 4G phones, has planned to rely on Taiwanese suppliers` cutting-edge product R&D capability to boost promotion of the 4G services.
Taiwan-based mobile telecom carrier Far EasTone Telecommunications (FET) has launched 25 Chinese-language Android applications om Mobile Market, the online store operated by China Mobile, with market response better than originally expected, according to FET.
The 25 applications, with 23 ones free and two chargeable, are selected from S Mart, FET’s online store of which 40% are for chargeable download, FET indicated. The launch on Mobile Market has hit a record of 43,000 downloads a day and reached more than 140,000 downloads cumulatively, FET noted. With 40 more applications under review by China Mobile, FET expects to have 100 applications available on Mobile Market at the end of 2010.
Most of the applications on Mobile Market should be for free use in order to cultivate habits, a necessary measure to pave the way for launching more chargeable applications in the future, FET pointed out. FET plans to invest NT$300 million (US$9.6 million) in three years offering free applications to tap the China market.
- Update: Internet is Major Helper of Home Economy in Taiwan [Dec 17]
Taiwan has about 15.42 million computer users and 14.46 million being habitual Internet browsers, 63.9% of which have shipped [shopped?] online, up 10 percentage points from the corresponding 53.9% of last year, according to a recent survey by the Research, Development & Evaluation Commission (RDEC) under the Taiwan Cabinet.
Online shoppers have spent on average this year NT$13,864 (US$447.23) per person, surging 41.24% from last year`s NT$9,816 (US$306.75). In addition, 26.4% of the browsers have used online financial services, up five percentage points from that recorded a year earlier. Such uptrend reflects the increasing dependence on the Internet by Taiwanese in home economy, or the art and economics of home management.
The survey shows that 86 of every 100 households in Taiwan own computers, with 81 being online browsers. This year the proportion of mobile online users has increased to 53% from last year`s 41.9%; while 75.6% of the island`s 12-and-older people have used computers and 70.9% have used the Internet.
Some 64.9% of Taiwan`s online users have participated in Internet communities, 48.8% have joined MSN, and 41.4% have participated in Facebook, with 34.9% having set up personal blogs.
- Update: VIA, Skycloud to Jointly Venture Into Cloud Computing [Dec 17]
The joint venture … will be the first manufacturer of cloud computing equipment co-founded by industries on the two sides of the Taiwan Straits.
Tian [Sounin, Skycloud Chairman] noted that mainland China has included cloud-computing development in its 12th Five-Year Plan, setting to push for one mega cloud computing plan each in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Wuxi and Nanjing in five years.
Of the five mega programs, the one for Beijing will cost at least RMB50 billion (US$7.5 billion at US$1:RMB6.6) in investment and create an industry revenue four times the investment costs. The one for Shanghai is also expected to create revenue the same size of the Beijing plan.
According to executives of Chunghwa Telecom Co., Ltd., the mainland`s top three telecom carriers—China Telecom, China Mobile and China Unicom—will also start their own cloud-computing programs.
Taiwan`s Ministry of Economic Affairs estimated global revenue in cloud-computing industry will reach US$409.6 billion in 2012 and Taiwan has designed cloud computing as next NT$1 trillion (US$33 billion at US$1:NT$30) industry.
The cooperation is for Skycloud help CHT market CHT-developed cloud computing infrastructure and application services and ICT-based intelligent services/solutions for home, business and government use in China, with Skycloud to provide hardware and system integration services, CHT pointed out. In addition, CHT will set up an exhibition center of its cloud computing products in a cloud computing park developed by Skycloud in Beijing, with completion scheduled for the end of January 2011, CHT indicated. CHT will then introduce its cloud computing products, the HiCloud CaaS (compute as a service), to the China market in March-April 2011, the company noted.
Skycloud, in order to promote cloud computing business, has set up 13 offices around China and the nationwide promotion network will be expanded to 35-40 offices in 2011, Tian [Edward, Skycloud chairman] pointed out. Skycloud has been in cooperation with Taiwan-based IC design house VIA Technologies, and both sides will set up a China-based joint venture in 2011 to develop terminal devices specifically for cloud computing application, Tian indicated.
- Update: Taiwan, China to Jointly Offer Cloud Computing Commercial Services [Dec 16]
Two top companies of Taiwan and China have signed a memorandum of understanding to start the cooperation on jointly tapping the commercial opportunities in cloud computing services for companies in the Greater China area.
Lu Shyue-ching, chairman of Chunghwa Telecom Co. and concurrently head of the Taiwan Cloud Computing Consortium (TCCC), inked the document with chairman Edward Tian of the Beijing-based Skycloud Technology (China), Inc.
The pact marks the closer cooperation between the two companies, but executives at Chunghwa Telecom, the leading telecommunications service company in Taiwan, said the project also represents the beginning of mutual assistance between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait concerning cloud computing services.
They said Chunghwa Telecom will team up with Taiwan-based enterprises to formally start providing services in the Chinese market in 2011, including shipping the turn-key projects there.
The partners of Chunghwa Telecom in Taiwan include Quanta Computers, Inventec, and Trend Micro Incorporated.
Skycloud Technology, a leading cloud computing system integration company, has become a bellwether of the cloud computing sector in China after integrating resources at several other companies, including Centrine Data Systems, CE Open Source Software, and a software firm set up by the Beijing University of Technologyto form the China Cloud Computing Technology and Industry Alliance (CCCTIA).
Chunghwa Telecom is playing a similar role in Taiwan.
Shareholders of Skycloud Technology (China) also include Yahoo founder Jerry Young, and executives from Taiwan like chairman Barry Lam of Quanta Computer, president Chen Wen-Chi of VIA Technologies, and chairman Steve Chang of Trend Micro, a computer and Internet security company.
Skycloud Technology, which aims to bring enterprises in China into the “cloud era,” was understood to have won several contracts to develop cloud computing projects in China, including the one at Beijing Zhongguancun.
- Update: Chunghwa Telecom, Inventec Enter Into Cloud Computing Deal [Dec 31]
Chunghwa Telecom Co., Ltd. and Inventec Corp. yesterday announced cooperation on four cloud-computing projects, including establishing a cloud-computing equipment laboratory, developing cloud-computing equipment for end-user market, and setting up an online store offering content applications.
Also, the two companies decided to work with Skycloud Technology (China) Inc. on integrated solutions for mainland China`s cloud-computing market, which is estimated at around NT$1 trillion (US$33 billion at US$1:NT$30) over next five years.
Inventec will place all the application software it co-develops with content-service developers on Chunghwa Telecom`s cloud-computing Internet data centers set up around the island. Industry watchers said Inventec and Chunghwa Telecom do not rule out the possibility of founding a joint venture to develop cloud-computing application software. Chunghwa Telecom executives said the jury is still out on the joint venture plan.
The idea of the two companies’ online content store is inspired by Apple Store. The online store will help Taiwan`s developers of cloud-computing software open online shops to sell their products.
- Update: Taiwan well poised to break into cloud computing: analyst [Dec 1]:
… Meanwhile, Platform Computing, a leading company in cluster, grid and cloud management software with 80 percent of the global market share, said on Monday that it planned to build an operating center in Taiwan within six months. The Canada-based company expects the new center to handle its cloud computing business in the greater China area …
- Update [Nov 22]: Taiwan is indeed recognizing its window of opportunity in cloud computing space on the Greater China market and elsewhere:
– Taiwan`s Cloud Computing Alliance to Tap Mainland China Market [Nov 22]
– Acer Debuts Cloud Computing Desktop Addressing Digital Home Market [Nov 22]
- Update [Nov 16]: Gene Perez from GMS (Santa Maria, California, US) noted in the comment below, that “labor is pretty damn cheap there as well”. Indeed, the graph below is showing the case for Taiwan (from U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Table 1 of International Comparisons of Manufacturing Productivity and Unit Labor Cost Trends or http://www.bls.gov/fls/prodsuppt.xls):
- Something similar for Greater China (PRC) from the same source [Nov 17] which shows that manufacturing employees in Greater China get upto 10 times less than even their counterparts in Taiwan — a huge competitive edge for many years and decades ahead which is when combined with cloud computing foundation will be an even more killing combination than upto now:
Table 1. Hourly compensation costs of manufacturing employees in China, 2002-2008
Year National currency basis
U.S. dollar basis
(US = 100)
2002 4.74 0.57 2.1 2003 5.17 0.62 2.2 2004 5.50 0.66 2.3 2005 5.95 0.73 2.4 2006 6.44 0.81 2.7 20072 8.06 1.06 3.4 2008 9.48 1.36 4.2
The current issue for me is therefore Taiwan related. What is the cloud computing strategy in Taiwan? How that strategy has taken into consideration the huge potential of mainland China? Not only as a market to sell into but as well as a huge and growing ICT industry to collaborate with. What is the role of the government there? Etc.
Below are my findings for which it was more than enough to collect information from the relevant Taiwan Economic News of China Economic News Service (CENS). I would highly recommend to subscribe to that service.
- Items #1-3 are showing that Taiwan’s lead in cloud computing has been well established by their government led efforts in the last two years. Item #4-5 are indicating that from large international ICT players Microsoft has been the first to engage in this very early period. Item #6 is about the first government assisted megaprojects.
- Item #7 is referring to the latest Gartner view on mainland China.
- Item #8 is about the IOT (Internet of Things) situation (notable here is the active liason work of Newland Group of Greater China), while item #9 is about the cloud computing effort as a whole in Taiwan.
- Item #10 is about Intel’s involvement coming quite late to the party.
- Items #11-12 are about Chungwa Telecom (Taiwan’s #1 telecom service provider) efforts being with the government from the very beginning.
- Item #13 is a report about the one year results of another government lead effort to build a mighty e-Book Industry, application-wise closely related to the whole cloud computing strategy.
- Items #14-20 are about some “grass-root” efforts indicating the building strengths of ICT industry players in the joint cloud computing effort:
– #14: HTC which is also the most promising ICT brand in Taiwan [Oct 18]
– #15: a joint brain-drain effort by their major ICT players
– #16: BenQ-AUO Group
– #17: Taiwan Mobile and Far EasTone, not to lag behind Chunghwa Telecom
– #18: Inventec
– #19: Chungwa-Fujitsu collaboration
– #20: Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., known internationally as Foxconn
Despite the global economic downturn, the Ministry of Economic Affairs in Taiwan and its Industry & Technology Intelligence Services (ITIS) have been sponsoring a series of seminars themed “Discovering Taiwan 2008: Building Future Industries.” As part of this program, the Market Intelligence Center (MIC) of the Institute for Information Industry (III) has been exploring, based on tapping opportunities within the information and communication technology (ICT) sector, various issues, including “the developmental trends of Taiwan`s IT sector; building new superiorities in Taiwan`s IT sector by tapping green concepts and values; and the outlook on the ten key IT software issues in 2009.”
The MIC believes that it is critical for Taiwan to upgrade its industrial competitiveness by shifting from manufacturing to offering service-oriented products.
Top-10 IT Software Issues
After intensive investigation and interviews with companies and experts, MIC summarizes in the following the 10-top issues concerning the IT software industry in Taiwan.
1. Microsoft … Windows 7 operating system in 2010 …
2. IT software developers … vital to focus on energy-saving, carbon-reduction in 2009, as global information-software developers try to build new products … to help enterprises cut energy consumption and upgrade IT equipment operation efficiency in 2009.
3. The increasingly mature business model Cloud Computing, or the Internet-based “Cloud” development and use of computing. It is computer tech that enables offering IT-related capabilities as service, allowing users to access technology-enabled services online. With such increasingly mature computing meeting the trend of businesses to streamline computing equipment, Cloud would gain more attention and stir more buzz in 2009.
4. The Software as a Service (SaaS) will become a major option for enterprises. Eliminating the need to install, run an application on customers` own PC, SaaS is a model of software deployment that offers as service customers to access, run programs online. Like the Cloud Computing, SaaS allows enterprises to better control costs for software installation, maintenance, making such option a top-choice for SMEs.
5. With SOA (Service Oriented Architecture) solutions for systems development and integration increasingly maturing, and after IT software developers` aggressive promotion, such solution will no longer be a buzzword but more widely adopted in 2009.
6. Open-code software to be used for mobile applications: After Google`s promotion of Linux cellphone open software architecture and Nokia`s release of the Symbian code, open-code software will be rapidly applied in mobile applications in 2009.
7. … information security of smartphone applications …
8. Personal Data Protection Law …
9. Taiwan`s contract software-developers …
10. Knowledge Process Outsourcing or KPO will continue to gain momentum, with the American legal profession already adopting such model. KPO is simply having staff in a different company or subsidiary of the same firm in the same country or offshore do knowledge- and information-related work to save cost, or a form of outsourcing. The highly localized, customized KPO is the next stage in the IT-outsourcing evolution.
The four members include telecom carrier Chunghwa Telecom Co., Ltd. (CHT), anti-virus software company Trend Micro Inc., government-sponsored technology R&D institute Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI), and information technology (IT) industry knowledge center Institute for Information Industry (III).
The center will be responsible for helping push six emerging industries on the island into the cloud computing field, and develop Taiwan into a global supply base of cloud-computing equipment and an application headquarters.
Taiwan`s Premier Wu Den-yih said earlier that the TCCC is expected to further upgrade the development of local information and communication technology (ICT) industry and that the Executive Yuan (the Cabinet) has enlisted cloud-computing a key sector for priority development.
Targeted cloud-computing applications in Taiwan include medical-care and educational industries in the initial stage; as well as six emerging lines for the second stage, such as green energy, tourism, health-care, biotechnology, dedicated agriculture, and culture/creativity industries.
3. ITRI Kicks Off Operation of Cloud Computing Research Center (2009/12/29)
Since setting up the Cloud Computing Research Center in September of 2009, the ITRI has actively recruited top engineers with related technical background, including Dr. Chiueh Tzi-cker, the head of the center, and sought cooperation with enterprises, in an effort to activate the center as soon as possible and assist industries on the island to carve out new niches through earlier involvement in the technology.
Chiueh noted that the center will be dedicated to development of software, hardware and application services based on cloud computing technology. Plus, he added that ITRI will establish a containerized data center, which will be installed with a total of up to 2,000 servers and related necessary equipment.
4. MOEA Signs MOU With Microsoft to Tap Cloud Computing Technology (2009/11/09)
Besides, Taiwan`s Economic Minister Y.S. Shih and Microsoft`s CEO Steve Ballmer also announced at the MOU signing a joint investment to establish the “Software and Services Excellence Center” on the island, which will employ engineers from Taiwan`s nationally funded Industrial Technology Research Institute and Institute for Information Industry to develop and apply the could computing technology.
Also, Shih said that through collaboration with Microsoft, Taiwanese R&D institute and enterprises can gain invaluable experience in development of application services based on the technology. Besides, he added, technically supported by Microsoft, the government can also effectively assist local enterprises to apply such technology to step up development of the island`s emerging industries as creative culture and e-book reader sectors.
… Microsoft has also signed a cooperation agreement with Taiwan`s largest telecom company, Chunghwa Telecom Co., to develop application services and platforms based on the technology.
5. Microsoft to Pour 90% R&D Resources Into Cloud Computing (2010/10/28)
There are many opportunities for Taiwanese OEMs/ODMs (original equipment /design manufacturers) in the “cloud computing” era, due mainly to strong demand for data-center construction and hardware such as servers, according to Zhang Yaqin, corporate vice president of Microsoft and chairman of Microsoft`s Asia-Pacific R&D Group.
In addition, Zhang said, Taiwanese information technology (IT) hardware makers have enjoyed strong advantages in making terminal products.
In the future, Zhang said at a recent IT industry trend forum held in Taiwan that major battlefields of the IT industry would lie in platforms, cloud computing, and portable devices. Any company that wins in the three fields would be the next-generation leader, Zhang said.
6. Multibillion Cloud Computing Projects Kick Off in Taiwan (2010/07/09)
At a cloud-computing forum recently held in Taipei, attending Taiwan government officials and top executive of Taiwan`s No.1 telecom carrier announced the commencements of their five-year, multibillion-dollar cloud computing projects.
Government representatives said the government will funnel NT$24 billion (US$750 million at US$1:NT$32) in five years into cultivating Taiwan`s cloud-computing industry, with the ultimate goal set to transform the island`s information-communications technology (ICT) industry into the cloud-computing industry.
Chunghwa Telecom Co., Ltd. will invest NT$40 billion (US$1.2 billion) in five years to set up the island`s biggest cloud-operation and data centers, the company`s chairman, S.J. Lu, vowed,
To smoothen the development of the Taiwan industry as expected, a cloud-computing alliance representing around 80 of the island`s manufacturers will set up a system-test platform, according to Lu, who is chairman of the alliance.
… the IT economy in China is driven by large verticals, rather than by consumer IT spending; however, it is slowly evolving toward the consumer market.
… Demand from Chinese companies for emerging technologies like software-as-a-service (SaaS), virtualization, cloud computing, unified communications and green IT is low but rising. IT vendors should help their channel partners continue to build skill sets around these emerging technologies, as spending on these technologies may help drive IT spending to 2013 and beyond.
8. MIT-invented IOT Seen as Moneymaker for Taiwan and China (2010/06/29)
Even in this age of lightning speed Internet communication and technologies, the concept of IOT (Internet of Things), attributed to the 1999-founded Auto-ID Center of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), is reportedly just catching on with firms in Taiwan and China. IOT, arguably the Net-era sibling of the original universal bar code that is still ubiquitous and tracks goods in quantifiable terms, is manifested as a self-configuring wireless network of sensors whose purpose is to interconnect RFID-tagged routine things via the Internet.
Companies in Taiwan and China eager to tap business opportunities of Internet of Things will form an alliance in late June to develop industry standards for their operations in Greater China.
The alliance will consist of telecoms from China such as China Mobile, China Unicom and China Telecom, as well as those from Taiwan as Chunghwa Telecom, Far EasTone Telecom and Taiwan Mobile. Such move reflects the telecoms` optimism about the potential of IOT, touted as the next major moneymaker in telecommunications valued at US$1 trillion worldwide by 2020, as well as seen by leading economies as a pivotal industry to drive growth and offset economic downturns.
[More information: Heavyweight Manufacturers Co-open Cross-Strait IOT Alliance (2010/07/21); ??? “Sensor China” Internet of Things Alliance established in our city, Wuxi Daily (2010-6-28) ??? <<< the exact relationship is not yet clear ]
President Barrack Obama of the U.S. reportedly equates IOT with green energy in degree of importance, believing these two key sectors can generate short and long term benefits.
Futuristic Inventory Management
As with the UPC or barcode, industry executives say that if daily objects like canned goods, books, shoes or auto parts are integrated with micro-identifications that are linked via the Internet, depleting stock or product waste will be minimized as suppliers can track effectively and instantly inventory levels, whether in Mumbai or the Mojave Desert. Industry watchers say that IOT can theoretically encode 50 to 100 trillion objects and track their movements via the Net.
China Mobile president J.Z. Wang summarizes IOT as “extensive sensing, reliable transmission, and intelligent treatment.” Market analysts at the Topology Research Institute, a Taiwan-based market consultant, cites a real-world product incorporating extensive sensing: the world`s first IOT-enabled fridge that was recently introduced by the Haier Group, China`s No.1 household appliance maker. Linked via the Net to the supermarket, the fridge has a display panel that tells the user freshness of foods in the supermarket as well as characteristics, origins of food stored in the freezer.
Despite its budding stage in China, revenue from the IOT sector as from infrared sensors and RFID manufacturing is expected to top US$14.7 billion by the end of this year and US$36.7 billion by 2015.
During a tour in August 2009 of the Wuxi Internet of Things Research Institute, Chinese premier J.B. Wen proposed to set up the “Experience China” center to enable the world to experience everything in China through IOT applications. Now upgraded to a national organization, the center in Wuxi, Jiangsu Province is China`s first IOT city.
Also China has invited Taiwan`s IOT developers to visit the officially-invested IOT facilities in Wuxi, with the invitees including Chunghwa Telecom, D-Link, Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI), GemTek, First International Telecom, Tatung, and Alpha Networks.
Wen`s IOT vision and instructions have spawned a slew of developments: Since early this year, China has accelerated interconnecting telecom networks, telecasting and broadcasting networks and the Internet, offering subscribers on a single platform wide ranging services including voice, data and telecasting and broadcasting, with the triple-play network considered the foundation of China`s IOT future.
Vice Chairman of Chinese National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) X.Q. Zhang says that the commission will aggressively promote six measures to develop IOT and other emerging industries in China, including interconnecting the three networks, inspiring investments in IOT projects, and creating demand for IOT applications.
Apparently China is serious about building the IOT sector in the nation. Chengdu, capital city of the southwestern province of Sichuan, announced in May a municipal IOT project with estimated revenue of US$4.4 billion; Guangzhou, the capital city of the southernmost province of Guangdong, announced plans to generate IOT revenue of US$14.7 billion in five years; Shannxi Province has launched an IOT alliance; Jiangxu Province has started a plan to build an IOT industry valued at US$58.8 billion; and Beijing announced the establishment of a national committee to set IOT standards.
Y.J. Lee, a senior market researcher at Topology, advises Taiwan`s IOT developers to watch closely China`s standardization of its RFID and electronic-labels, as well as try to work with China`s agency on IOT protocols based on its homegrown TD-SCDMA 3G technology and take part in China`s IOT infrastructural projects. Lee also believes that entering China`s market and working with its standard-setters will help Taiwan`s IOT developers penetrate other emerging IOT markets, as well as become a dominant global player.
Lee notes that Taiwan`s IOT developers lag their Chinese counterparts as China Mobile, China Unicom, Invengo Information Technology and Tongfang in terms of network and service technologies, as China offers opportunities for field testing of integrated systems. In contrast, Taiwan is ahead of China in integrated-circuit design, components and equipment manufacturing, making the two sides more friend than foe.
Taiwan Makers Contracted
As such, the Newland Group in China, recognized as the No.1 IOT equipment supplier in Greater China, recently announced it would contract Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd., United Microelectronics Corp. (UMC), Largan Precision Co., Ltd. and Faraday Technology Corp. as suppliers. [See also: Newland Europe & Taiwan.]
[From that recent announcement: “Wang said she had approached Chairman Terry Gou of the Hon Hai Group and Honorary Vice Chairman John Hsuan of UMC over cooperation deals on Internet of Things. She added that the Internet of Things industry in mainland China and that in Taiwan can complement each other with their own advantages. For instance, Taiwan is good at raid frequency identification (RFID), high-end chips, barcode test, and consumer-premise equipment while the mainland is adept at matrix code and sensor transmission. Newland’s executives pointed out that Newland is moving to integrate upstream, middle-stream and downstream sectors of Internet of Things to constitute a complete supply chain for the mainland’s Internet of Things market.”]
Newland is one of the three Chinese manufacturers contracted by China Telecom, China`s No.1 telecom carrier, to supply IOT equipment.
Regarding Taiwan`s lack of field testing of integrated systems, Topology`s Lee suggests Taiwan`s IOT developers focus on applications for urban life, transportation, residence, finance, retail, energy, production, and agriculture.
Wireless Sensor Network
Y.S. Hsieh, another Topology analyst, suggests Taiwan`s equipment supplier emphasize wireless sensor network, with service providers to use the network to develop IOT applications like intelligent data transmission system, homecare for seniors, as well as home and community security. She notes that although manufacturing of WSN equipment as chips, modules and end equipment is mature in Taiwan, very few developers are capable of integrating such equipment and no open interoperability platforms have been set up on the island. These deficiencies hamstring development of Taiwan`s IOT industry, she stresses.
China`s significance in global RFID manufacturing, including manufacturing of tag, reader, and infrastructure equipment, also strengthens its IOT development, according to watchers in Taiwan. China`s RFID strength is driven by robust demand, which totaled around US$1.4 billion in 2008, with the global market valued at US$5.2 billion, up from 2007`s US$4.9 billion.
9. Taiwan Sees Sunny Future in Cloud Computing (2010/07/22)
The government of Taiwan is vigorously working with the island`s information and communications technology (ICT) sector on strategies to facilitate the development of cloud-computing industry. The emerging industry has been singled out as an area that could fast-forward the island`s ICT sector into a leading provider of system-integration services incorporating software and hardware.
Cloud computing is a cost-effective alternative for delivering computing power to organizations over the Internet. Computer hardware, software and information are provided online based on demand, like electricity, and service is charged by usage. Some analysts figure that cloud computing can save a company of 200 employees about 30% on software expenses.
Late last year, the United States Federal Government launched the Apps.gov, a cloud-computing application site, which is a major feature of the Obama Administration`s initiative to cut down operating costs while boosting government efficiency. The federal government is estimated to be able to save US$75 billion by offering administrative services via the cloud site.
Taiwan`s government-backed Industrial Economics and Knowledge Center (IEK) estimates that the global market for cloud applications and services will top US$160 billion in 2015. The Executive Yuan, Taiwan`s Cabinet, projects the island`s cloud-computing industry will generate revenue totaling NT$1 trillion (US$31.2 billion at US$1:NT$32) and create 50,000 jobs in 2014.
The government`s first step to materialize its cloud policy is “Government Cloud” or “G Cloud” plan, which will provide contracts to local manufacturers to help them foster cloud computing capability. “G Cloud” will offer applications associated with small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), medical services and healthcare, homeland security, online education, digital content, tax, electronic invoice, trade, and finance services. Applications will be stored in “container data centers,” which eliminate the need to download memory-consuming applications to end-user devices like desktops, laptops, and handheld gadgets.
Senior government officials pointed out that South Korean and United States governments have combined information centers in all government organizations across the two countries into two to three centers and are equipping these centers with cloud-computing capability to cut software leasing costs.
Cloud Computing Alliance
An alliance of 65 Taiwanese manufacturers is planning to co-organize a private company to vie for contracts under the ambitious project. The alliance was launched on April 7 with coordination by ITRI. Alliance members include Wistron, Quanta Computer, Inventec, Accton Technology, Chunghwa Telecom, Far EasTone Telecom, and Taiwan Mobile.
… Chunghwa, Taiwan`s No.1 telecom carrier, will help the government foster Taiwan`s cloud-computing industry with its Internet Data Centers (IDCs) across Taiwan. The company is building a center in Banqiao, Taipei County. … Inventec Corp. Chairman Shiqin Li, expects Taiwan to ship its first integrated cloud-computing system by the end of this year. Insiders of the Taiwan industry estimate that the United States or mainland China would be Taiwan`s first export destination.
Quanta Computer, the world`s No.2 contract supplier of laptops, has entered into alliance with Chunghwa Telecom to set up a cloud-computing platform for enterprises and will open a cloud-computing company at yearend to sell the applications.
The enterprise cloud-computing platform, Quanta`s vice president, T.J. Fang stresses, will not only provide applications to Taiwan`s 80,000 manufacturers but also to the millions of manufacturers in mainland China. He adds that the platform`s applications may be bundled with Quanta`s servers and storage equipment or even as total solutions.
Currently, Quanta`s enterprise cloud-computing applications will at least include enterprise resource planning (ERP), supply-chain management, work-process management, provision of software crucial to product designs, and emergency response centers (ERCs).
According to Fan, Quanta has been involved in cloud-computing development for some time and sees the new IT sector as a chance to evolve into a software-service provider from a hardware manufacturer. “Quanta has established an R&D center to develop application software and expects cloud computing to bring it another NT$1 trillion [US$31 billion] of revenue after notebook-computer production,” he says. He stresses cloud-computing application software can help small and midsize businesses slash software licensing fees.
Microsoft on Board
Taiwan`s strength in developing the cloud-computing industry convinced Microsoft to open a Software and Service Excellence Center (SSEC) in Taiwan, its first on the island and fourth in the world, in early June. Microsoft will work with the first batch of Taiwanese tenants in the center, including Quanta, Inventec and Delta Electronics, to develop new generation of cloud servers.
… Microsoft expects more than 100 Taiwanese ICT companies to join the center in developing cloud computing solutions over the next three years.
W.N. Jan, a senior consultant and director general of Market Intelligence and Consulting Institute (MIC), categorizes the cloud industry chain into service provision coupled with transmission and service equipment. “MIC`s viewpoint is that service provision involves bigger business opportunities and its business model emphasizes offering services on the Internet. Accordingly, information security will become a top concern in cloud applications,” he notes.
MIC`s surveys, Jan says, show that Taiwan`s enterprises still are hesitant to embrace cloud services all because of security concerns. “CIOs and CTOs are reluctant, or even opposed, to using cloud services,” he stresses. To fix the issue, the Legislative Yuan, he says, is revising an act associated with protection of computer-processed personal data to regulate all enterprises holding personal data.
Paul Otellini, president and chief executive officer of Intel, signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on cooperation with the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) yesterday (Oct. 28), aiming to join hands with the Taiwanese government, universities, and enterprises in the development of the cloud-computing industry.
Otellini pointed out that the Internet population will top 4 billion in the coming years, leading to the emergence of various Internet-access devices, such as TV and set-top box, which will bring good business opportunities for both Taiwan and Intel.
He pointed to the tremendous change in the pipeline for Internet-access devices, whose functions will cover intelligent control, two-way interaction, hi-tech sensing, and distant care, saying changes in this sector in one year will equal changes in the past 50 years. In the future, mobile devices will have constant connection with the Internet and digital signals, enabling people to access information and entertainment services anytime, according to him.
Lu Shyue-ching, chairman of Chunghwa Telecom, reported that his company has signed an MOU with Intel for the joint development of cloud-computing technology, as well as close- and open-end platforms for smart TV. The company has also joined Open Data Center Appliance, in order to accelerate the development of cloud-computing technology. In addition, it signed an MOU with NTT.com the other day for the same purpose.
11. Chunghwa Telecom Projects Sales at NT$220B in 2015 (2010/10/19)
The telecom carrier has designated overseas operation, cloud computing, iEN, movie-on-demand and value-added mobile services as major growth drivers for sales over the next five years. Mainland China is set to be the company`s major overseas market as soon as its mainland branch starts operation early next year.
For cloud computing service, the company will spend NT$40 billion (US$1.29 billion) over next five years beginning this year on installation of cloud computing facilities. The service is estimated to drive up the company`s sales over the next 10 years.
12. Chunghwa Telecom Unveils Five-Year Roadmap (2010/07/27)
Over the next five years, the company`s investments will focus on cloud computing, digital convergence, intelligent energy network, information-communication technology, movie-on-demand (MOD) service, value-added mobile service, and reinvested businesses at home and overseas.
Many of the investment projects are associated with the bright future of related markets in mainland China, where the central government has worked out development projects for intelligent energy network and digital convergence industries.
13. Year One for Taiwan`s e-Book Industry (2010/02/09)
Joining the global rush into the rapidly evolving e-book market, Taiwanese e-reader makers are joining hands with content suppliers in launching e-book services whose reach could extend to the huge market across the Taiwan Strait.
Such ventures were at center stage during the 2010 Taipei International Book Exhibition, held at the Taipei World Trade Center on Jan. 27-Feb. 1.
BenQ, for instance, teamed up with eBook Japan to launch eBook Taiwan during the book fair. eBook Taiwan enables readers to tap a bonanza of digital content via its e-reader, dubbed the BenQ nReader.
Jerry Wang, vice chairman of BenQ, claims that the combination of eBook Taiwan and BenQ nReader offers consumers a reading experience approaching that of print publications and enables them to buy books with just a touch on the e-reader.
eBook Taiwan is an open-end platform with a webpage featuring a safe, stable, smooth, and simple design. It serves as a neutral outlet for Taiwan`s digital-content providers, with a reasonable sharing of profits and a DRM (digital rights management) mechanism capable of offering publishers full protection of their rights. Thanks to the support of cutting-edge technologies such as a high-clarity, high-compression post-production tool, chapter-based sales management, and the ability to support multiple formats including ePub, EFI, PDF, and TXT, e-books can be easily put on the shelf of the platform. This capability enhances timeliness and enriches the content of the platform, which in turn will boost consumer willingness to use it.
In addition to the provision of popular books and magazines in traditional Chinese characters, simplified Chinese characters, and Japanese, eBook Taiwan also offers publication and delivery of magazines simultaneously with the print versions. More than 10,000 books and magazines covering a variety of fields are now available on the platform, and readers can even access parts of books and summaries of feature reports in magazines before placing purchase orders.
In view of the e-book surge, market insiders are calling 2010 “year one for Taiwan`s e-book industry.” This underscores the rosy outlook of the industry, which has been incorporated into the government`s flagship development plan for the digital content industry. The government predicts that the production value of the local e-book content industry will hit NT$30 billion (US$937 million at NT$32:US$1) in two years and NT$100 billion (US$3 billion) in four years.
Attracted by the huge market potential, growing numbers of domestic electronics firms have been jumping onto the bandwagon for e-readers and related products. The Economics Ministry reports that total investment by local firms in e-readers and components/parts has topped NT$15 billion (US$469 million), with major participants including Prime View, BenQ, Delta, Hon Hai, Gold Circuit Electronics, and ASUS.
The Topology Research Institute predicts that Taiwan`s e-reader market will reach 100,000 units this year, compared with 1 million in the Chinese market and only a fraction of 9.1 million globally (including 6.8 million in the U.S.). Topology believes that the global e-reader market will remain in the fledgling stage for two more years before embarking on a period of vigorous development.
14. HTC Debuts Two New Models in London (2010/09/16)
Along with the new models, HTC also debuted a free Internet service, dubbed HTCSense-com, which will enable subscribers to tap cloud-computing service offered by HTC. The service is similar to Microsoft’s MyPhone service and Apple’s MobileMe service. The service, for instance, enables owners to give directions to their lost phones via the Internet, such as making it ring, sending messages to the phone for the obtainer, locking up the phone, or even eliminating data stored in the phone.
15. Taiwan`s Hi-Tech Manufacturers Go to U.S. to Solicit Talents (2010/09/13)
Delegation members planned to offer a total of 1,200 jobs covering R&D specialists, market researchers, market managers, and accountants.
The delegation was accompanied by a cloud-computing alliance, which would visit Intel, Microsoft and IBM.
16. BenQ-AUO Group Eyes US$22 B.-beyond Revenue This Year: Chairman Lee (2010/09/01)
According to Lee, BenQ-AUO will focus its future development on medical care, cloud computing, green energy, and environment protection etc.
BenQ-AUO group has opened a hospital in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province of China with more than 3,000 beds. The group is scheduled to inaugurate another big hospital by the end of 2011 in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province of China.
Not to lag behind Chunghwa Telecom, Taiwan Mobile and Far EasTone have been stepping up their business deployment in the emerging segment for cloud computing technology-based services.
For instance, Taiwan Mobile has cooperated with Fubon Financial Group on constructing an extensive cloud computing network for their respective subsidiaries.
… Far EasTone has also been in talk with HP, IBM, Quanta Computer, Data Systems Consulting Co., Ltd. and related software developers on formation of a cooperative alliance, in which the telecom company will take charge of building a cloud computing platform and other members will supply needed software and hardware for operation of the platform.
18. Inventec Announces Venturing Into Cloud Computing, Online Gaming (2009/12/16)
Inventec Corp. of Taiwan recently announced plans to step into the high-potential cloud-computing business, and will provide software download online by the year-end, as well as moving into online gaming in 2010.
… Chiu Chuan-chen, president of Inventec`s software business division, pointed out that his company has been cultivating the software business for more than 10 years and now is the right time to commercialize products. Inventec`s software business would first focus on two major fields, including the intelligent learning and healthcare, while keeping an eye on online gaming.
19. Chunghwa, Fujitsu Collaborate on E-Commerce and Others (2009/11/17)
The pact is part of Chunghwa Telecom`s efforts to enhance cooperative ties with Japanese hi-tech manufacturers. … In the near future, Chunghwa plans to work with Japanese internet-TV, digital-content and TV shopping service providers.
20. Hon Hai Joins Forces With III to Develop Cloud Computing Software (2009/06/03)
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd., the largest EMS (electronic manufacturing service) provider, has joined forces with the government-funded Institute for Information Industry (III) of Taiwan to develop Cloud Computing application software as the first Taiwanese company to get engaged in the field.
Hon Hai and III will seek financial aid from the government for establishing the first lab of Cloud Computing as a joint venture between industries and the government on the island. So far, the Ministry of Economic Affairs has already lifted restrictions on official subsidization of development of related application software, paving the way for local companies to dedicate their energies to the field.
Hon Hai has decided to invest a total of NT$1.9 billion (US$58.46 million at US$1: NT$32.5) in constructing an R&D building in Kaohsiung Software Technology Park, southern Taiwan, to specialize in research and development of digital contents and information service offerings.
On the other hand, by investing in R&D of Cloud Computing, Hon Hai is to diversify its business operation into information services from manufacturing. Furthermore, the firm plans to apply Cloud Computing platform to the long-distance health care, showing its determination to venture into the medical care industry.


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Karur Vysya Bank (KVB) has said that the bank is on a transformation path from branch-led operations to multichannel-driven operations as the old private sector bank seeks to sustain its growth momentum in total business and profitability.
The bank, which reported a record profit of ₹1,106 crore and strong numbers across several parameters for FY23, expects margin pressures in the next 2-3 quarters as its cost of deposits may go up by 40–50 bps. However, it hopes to sustain its performance. Also, it is not required to raise any capital, though it may review the decision a year later.
B Ramesh Babu, MD and CEO of KVB, discussed the bank’s transformation journey after opening its 800th branch and first digital banking unit in Chennai. KVB is planning 35 new branches during this fiscal.
He said multiple channels and new units have been created to shore up the deposit base and grow the advances.
Babu said more than 77 per cent of its deposits are below ₹1 crore, indicating the granularity of its deposit structure. The top 20 depositors make up just less than 5 per cent of its total deposits “Our dependence on the bigger deposits is not there, and that is the strength of the bank,” he added.
All these years, these deposits were mostly mobilised by branches. With the growing need to serve existing customers and bring in more, KVB has created multiple new channels. It has created a retail liability sales force, which will have “feet on the street” (FOS) staff. “We have taken people from various banks. We have already hired 500 people in the last 3 months and will increase the number progressively, said Babu.
KVB plans to hire 1,300 FOS over the next 12–18 months. They are entrusted with the task of meeting people and garnering new accounts, mostly current and savings accounts, corporate salary accounts, government businesses, third-party products, etc.
The objective is to grow the share of CASA to 40 per cent, over 3 years, up from 33 per cent now. “An increase in CASA share will lead to a reduction in our cost of deposits, and we will be able to offer better rates for our borrowers,” he added.
On the advances front, KVB has already taken steps to bring in granularity to manage the book in case of sudden stress. As a result of its initiatives, it has brought down the corporate loan book to 21 per cent now from about 40 per cent earlier. It has also broken down this portfolio into corporate and commercial, wherein above ₹25 crore loans will come under corporate and sub-₹25 crore advances will be under the commercial category, which is focusing mostly on MSME and trade segments. Now, the commercial portfolio accounts for 32–33 per cent of the book.
Since the bank is keen on targetting MSMEs and trading units, it has created the KVB Smart unit, under which it has relationship managers to constantly engage with prospective customers who may require loans in the range of ₹5–10 crore. It has also set up business banking units and is planning a business correspondent (BC) model before opening branches.
It plans to hire 5,000 BCs by December this year. These are like mini branches; once the transaction levels grow, we may open a branch there. Overall, we feel a dedicated channel will drive better growth for commercial loans,” said Babu.

domain: news


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The last two months have seen two of the biggest chocolate industry players announce major ethical certification initiatives.
Cadbury's Dairy Milk bar will be Fairtrade certified in the UK and Ireland by the end of 2009, with plans to convert more of their range, and Mars are working with Rainforest Alliance to sustainably source all their cocoa by 2020, starting with Rainforest Alliance certification for the Galaxy bar in 2010.
To put these announcements in context and explore their significance, we put some questions to Mars and Cadbury, and to three external commentators...
- Bama Athreya and Tim Newman of the International Labor Rights Forum (ILRF). www.laborrights.org
- Michael Niemann, a writer and a teacher currently writing a book on the global cocoa and chocolate commodity chain. michael-niemann.com
- Philip Sigley, Chief Executive of the Federation of Cocoa Commerce Limited. www.cocoafederation.com The views expressed in this Q&A are his personal views. A longer response to these questions from Philip Sigley can be found here.
- Alison Ward, Global Head of Corporate Responsibility, responded on behalf of Cadbury. The spokesperson from Mars declined to be named.
Questions and Answers
1. Why are Cadbury and Mars adopting these ethical certification marks?
2. Why are Cadbury and Mars adopting these ethical certification marks now, at this time?
3. What is the scale of the commitments and how much will they cost each company?
4. Why not one of the other ethical certification marks?
5. Why not 100% certification for all Cadbury and Mars products?
6. What volumes of cocoa are involved?
7. What about the other commodities in these products, in particular the sugar?
8. What do these two different routes – Fairtrade and Rainforest Alliance – say about the companies’ respective strategies?
9. What does this mean for the Global Protocol, the agreement signed in 2001 by the cocoa and chocolate industries to eliminate child slavery?
10. What do the announcements mean for consumers and citizens in rich countries?


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- According to ad analytics firm Moat, intrusive "high-impact" digital ads are gaining popularity.
- In 2014 so far, publishers have run 4,971 high-impact ads — compared to 8,989 for all of 2013 — putting the disruptive ads on track to grow by 11% in 2014.
- Moat has classified 11 kinds of ads as high-impact, including skins, overlays, interstitials, and pushdowns.
Digital advertising is a wacky place to be in 2014. Ads seem to be going in one of two extremes — either disruptive "high-impact" or barely distinguishable from editorial. It's a Wild West market online and advertisers have to find ways to stand out, so it's only natural that high-impact ads would be one of the things advertisers experiment with. It will be interesting to see the yin and yang play out between native ads and high-impact ads.


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Mont-Sainte-Anne ski resort wants customers to pay back their 2022-2023 subscription after being refunded by their credit card provider when the mountain was closed last winter.
• Also Read: Mont-Sainte-Anne: Never again in the same movie
• Also Read: Mont-Sainte-Anne is preparing a major investment plan
• Also Read: Mont-Sainte-Anne: RBQ lifts ordinance on gondola
The manager of Mont-Sainte-Anne, Resort of the Canadian Rockies (RCR) is “threatening” these subscribers that they will not be able to purchase a new membership if they do not pay.
“Please you cannot purchase a new 23-24 membership before paying for 22-23. You have also lost the benefit of purchasing online and must now purchase your subscription at our customer service department counter,” reads an email.
On December 16, a few days after the gondola fell, RBQ demanded that all lifts be suspended.
The next day, December 17, RCR offered reimbursement for an unlimited season and weekly subscription. However, people choose to dispute the transaction through their credit card, which makes RCR unhappy.
File a claim
“Despite several requests from us, you still haven’t refunded your 22-23 subscription,” wrote a manager claiming more than $1,000 from a client who skied for just one day on November 29, 2022.
“I contacted them and they refuse to review their position,” said Monique Drolet. “They lost two customers. Hopefully one day we can talk about this manager in the past tense,” she added.
It should be noted that the concerned subscribers are not reimbursed twice by their credit provider and station.
Other plan subscribers pass, for night skiing, got the same email. “I’m willing to pay for the only trail evening I’ve done at Stoneham, but not for an unused subscription,” explained another skier, who didn’t want to be identified in hopes of getting there.
“With this behavior, RCR will continue its long descent of earnings by attacking its most loyal customers. A company that is seriously considering reinvesting in its business cannot behave this way,” said Group President Les. friends Du Mont-Sainte-Anne, Yvonne Charest.
For subscribers waiting for relaunch in January, 15% can be recovered in gift cards or Future Credit, but the procedures are lengthy.
“We had to ask and ask again and we received two weeks from the end of the season. It’s a way of forcing us to come back. This is normal but not surprising,” laments Johanne Navennek.
RCR did not respond to our interview request.


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Plans to Curb Meat and Dairy Emissions Have a Deadline, and It’s Sooner Than You Think
Climate•6 min read
Deforestation in the Amazon rainforest is now at a six-year low, but factory farming continues to drive destruction.
Words by Grace Hussain
The truth sounds unbelievable, and certainly counterintuitive, when talking about what should be the planet’s lungs: animal agriculture, logging, mining, infrastructure and urban development caused some parts of the Amazon rainforest to emit more carbon dioxide than it absorbs in 2021. Deforestation in the Amazon has eliminated thousands of species of wildlife and plants, put the lives of local communities at risk and crippled one of nature’s most important tools in storing carbon and staving off the climate crisis. According to the World Resources Institute, the Amazon rainforest remains a net carbon sink, just barely, and that’s thanks to strong protections in lands managed by Indigenous communities.
Let’s take a look at how we got here, and what can be done to restore this crucial rainforest.
Not only does the rainforest provide a habitat for thousands of species of wildlife and millions of plant species, but it plays an important role in counteracting global climate change. By current estimates, the Amazon holds around 150 billion tons of carbon, which would otherwise be released into the atmosphere in the form of carbon dioxide emissions.
The rainforest spans parts of Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador and Colombia. Brazil contains the largest portion of this natural resource — just over 1.5 million square miles of the Amazon. Brazil is also where the majority of deforestation took place in 2021.
The world’s most well-known rainforest covers approximately 2.72 million square miles in total, equivalent to twice the size of India. The Amazon river that flows through it is 4,100 miles long.
Much of the Amazon rainforest remains unexplored — and its remoteness helps limit its destruction. In fact, the ancient ruins of vast cities were recently discovered in the midst of the forest.
Native wildlife flora and fauna are still able to flourish in the most remote areas, and Indigenous people are able to remain isolated. Researchers believe there are still several dozen communities of Indigenous people in the Amazon who have never been in contact with researchers.
Researchers believe mass deforestation began in the 1960s, driven by land owners and their commercial activities.
Large swaths of the Amazon rainforest have been slashed and burned to be used for intensive animal agriculture, crop production, mining and industrial development. By 2018 these activities, among others, had resulted in the deforestation of 17 percent of the Amazon. In the past 20 years, eight percent of the rainforest has been destroyed as it continues to lose resilience.
Cattle ranching is a leading driver of deforestation in the Amazon, accounting for around 80 percent of the destruction there, and the release of 340 million tons of carbon per year. The region has experienced an eight percent increase in cattle since 2020.
The cumulative effects of small-scale agriculture are also devastating the Amazon. Research suggests that an increase in the number of smaller-scale agriculture operations started across Amazonia between 2001 to 2014 are an effort by landowners to deforest while evading government monitoring systems.
Just like animal agriculture, crop production in the Amazon involves the clearing and burning of large areas of land. The crops grown on these areas of land include soy, sugar cane, palm oil, cotton and rice. Since soy is a key ingredient in animal feed, its demand is rising along with the global demand for meat.
In addition to the issues caused by the clearing of such vast areas of the rainforest, agricultural practices such as the use of pesticides and fertilizers have implications for the native wildlife, plant species and Indigenous people of the region.
Logging, including illegal logging, is another major culprit when it comes to deforesting the Amazon. Scientists were especially alarmed when they learned that logging is moving deeper into the rainforest instead of staying on the periphery, where it is more easily tracked and monitored.
The Amazon region is often mined for gold, copper, iron, manganese and other materials. In order to mine these materials, landowners clear vast areas of forest in order to dig mining pits. Gold mining is on the rise in recent years and, in one area of the Amazon along the Guiana Shield, gold mining accounts for around 90 percent of deforestation. The process of mining gold has further ecological impacts due to its use of mercury, which can contaminate local water supplies.
Increasing deforestation rates impede the Amazon’s ability to store carbon and counter climate change. In 2021, it was discovered that due to deforestation, parts of the rainforest started emitting more carbon than it held.
Our changing climate is also having an impact on deforestation. As the forest becomes drier and contains less moisture, it becomes more susceptible to wildfires, which themselves cause critical damage to the environment and biodiversity.
The development of road networks has made parts of the rainforest accessible that were previously difficult to reach. The majority of deforestation hotspots in Brazil in 2021 were found along major road networks.
When decision-makers have a simplistic pro-development agenda, they tend to have little regard for the devastating ecological and social impact of deforestation. Destructive activities surged in the Amazon after 2019, when president Bolsonaro’s government in Brazil weakened the protections that were previously put in place to protect the rainforest.
Fortunately for the planet, with the election of a new president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, efforts to combat illegal deforestation and protect the rainforest have increased. Deforestation is now at a six-year low, in part as a result of those efforts.
The Brazilian Institute of the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources was set up to monitor activities related to the conservation of natural resources in Brazil. In 2019 and 2020, however, the agency acted on only 1.3 percent of the alerts for illegal deforestation activity in Brazil. Estimates suggest 94 percent of deforestation in the Amazon and the Cerrado may involve illegal activity, or around 18 million hectares of habitat.
Though Brazil’s new president is taking steps to remove cattle who are being kept illegally in the rainforest, ranchers, and even some politicians, are attempting to stop the operations.
Fires are often started deliberately in the Amazon to clear land for animal agriculture, crop production and other related activities. In addition to intentionally destroying thousands of hectares of the rainforest, fires can easily escape control.
While the natural moisture of a rainforest should provide protection from the spread of fire, increasingly dry conditions can impede the rainforest’s ability to protect itself. Wildfires clear even more areas of land, and in turn, increase susceptibility to further fires.
Deforestation is impacting millions of people who live in the Amazon, including Indigenous communities. While there has been much debate over how far pre-Columbian societies altered the landscape of the Amazon, one study published in 2021 suggests that native inhabitants of parts of northeastern Peru have lived there for thousands of years with very little impact on its ecosystem.
Through a process known as transpiration, the Amazon expels large amounts of water into the atmosphere. This water then falls as rain, providing around half of the region’s rainfall. he health of the rainforest and its trees contributes to this process and helps to maintain a functioning water system. If too much of the Amazon is deforested, this natural balance is also in jeopardy.
With a reduction in the number of trees, the Amazon has less cover, contains and releases less moisture and can no longer cool the local climate in the way it once did.
In order to protect the Amazon rainforest, and thus ourselves, it’s necessary to take a multi-faceted approach that engages governments, NGOs, local and Indigenous communities, and nature itself.
Brazil’s previous president, Jair Bolsonaro, not only failed to enforce laws protecting the Amazon rainforest, but also cut the budgets of the government offices responsible for protecting it. Despite these moves, he did sign onto an international agreement to end deforestation.
His successor, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, has taken steps to meet those goals, and made protecting the Amazon a central part of his environmental platform.
Amazon — the corporate giant, not the rainforest — launched a program in 2021 to support nature-based solutions in its namesake. They provide funding and technical support to small-scale farmers who opt to take part in sustainable, plant-based agriculture rather than expanding cattle operations. In exchange, the online marketplace receives carbon credits for the additional carbon being removed from the atmosphere and stored in the farmers’ trees. Carbon credit programs, however, are only successful when the removals are real, additional, permanent and measurable; yet a recent investigation published in The Guardian revealed that 90 percent of certified rainforest credits were worthless.
There are numerous nonprofits involved with preserving and reforesting the Amazon rainforest. Some of the bigger names are The Nature Conservancy and Conservation International. There are also numerous smaller, locally run and organized groups.
Since cattle ranching and feed crop cultivation are the leading causes of deforestation in the Amazon, reducing or eliminating the amount of beef and dairy we consume is a key part of protecting the rainforest.
Indigenous peoples have lived alongside and stewarded the natural resources of the Amazon Rainforest for thousands of years. Under their watchful eye, the rainforest thrived, and they continue to advocate on the forest’s behalf.
As one of the most biodiverse places on earth, the Amazon is home to thousands of different species. Its destruction has lasting implications for all who call it home. When the forest is destroyed, animals lose their homes and food chains are disrupted, leading to species extinctions.
In just 50 years, almost 20 percent of the Amazon rainforest has been destroyed. Scientists warn that we’re dangerously close to the forest’s breaking point: 25 percent deforestation. At that point, the forest risks collapsing in on itself and transitioning to scrubby savannah.
Just over 80 percent of the rainforest coverage measured in the 1970s still remains. Of that, scientists caution that 38 percent suffers from some sort of degradation. Yet recently, much of the deforestation has been halted as a result of more protective environmental policies.
Environmental advocates are using a number of different tactics to protect and restore the Amazon rainforest. Some point to carbon credits to encourage corporations to invest in the forest’s protection whereas others are encouraging stronger public policy solutions, especially regulations that limit agricultural expansion. Still others take a more grassroots approach to bring attention to the issue and protect the forest.
The largest driver of deforestation in the Amazon is animal agriculture. Roughly 80 percent of the deforested land has been converted into pasture land for cattle. The country driving the trend is the United States, which in 2021 bought more than 320 million pounds of Brazilian beef.
The Amazon rainforest is one of the planet’s critical tools for staving off the climate crisis. Yet some parts of the forest have already started emitting more carbon than they absorb — a trend we can’t afford to perpetuate.
Research suggests that reducing or eliminating consumption of beef; especially that from JBS, the largest Brazilian beef company, has the potential to halt global deforestation, including in the Amazon rainforest.
Climate•6 min read


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Just last week, The Burn told you about the new barbecue joint coming to downtown Leesburg — Schmidt’s Barbecue — from the same folks behind the popular restaurants SideBar and More Better Restaurant & Beer Garden. While their team moves fast — the grand opening of the new restaurant is today, Friday, September 18.
Schmidt’s is opening at 14 Loudoun Street SE. The historic building has most recently been the site of a series of fun pop-up bars with various themes, such as the Christmas bar Fa La La.
The menu is full of BBQ staples such as pulled pork, brisket, ribs as well as wings, smoked chicken and salmon and a short rib grilled cheese that’s high on our list. You can see the full menu here. Schmidt’s is offering dine-in and patio seating as well as carry out and delivery.


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The Italian Design Day in Senegal offered the opportunity to present the fruit of Italian ingeniousness: ‘’Monolyto’’, a recycled plastic structure that replaces cement bricks. Manufactured in the region of Dakar from an Italian patent registered by the developer Maddalena Martigli, “Monolyto” represents an eco-sustainable and innovative solution that reduces the carbon footprint thanks to a product that is lighter and more solid than traditional bricks. The presentation took part at an event that was part of the initiatives for the 6th Italian Design Day 2022 dedicated to “Regeneration. Design and New Technologies for a Sustainable Development” which convened more than 70 institutional and business representatives, designers, and NGOs, both Senegalese and Italian, at the Comptoir Commercial du Senegal.
On opening the event, the Italian Ambassador to Senegal, Giovanni Umberto De Vito, underscored the “importance of this event in Senegal, our partner and privileged friend in West Africa”. He said: “It is a great honor to be able to count on the presence of members of the Italian and Senegalese Governments at this event, which highlights the creativity of our enterprises, applied to a dynamic economic sector whose potential is greatly boosted through bilateral cooperation”. The event was attended, among others, by the Undersecretary for Ecological Transition, Ilaria Fontana, who is on a visit to Dakar, and by the Chief of Staff at the Ministry of Urbanization of Senegal, Abass Ndiaye. “Reusing, repairing, renewing, and recycling existing materials and products is now a necessity that goes in parallel with the development of new materials, and with an ever-tighter cooperation between designers and producers,” said Ilaria Fontana.


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Bianca Censori’s wardrobe leaves little to the imagination — but there has been one big question: Where are these skimpy outfits coming from?
According to fashion designers who have worked closely with Kanye West, the rapper has a “whole atelier in Italy” cranking out the nearly-naked body stockings that his “wife” has been sporting as the couple have cavorted around Europe and Japan over the past four months.
“Anything he wants to make they can make it. He’s really just making it on the spot,” said Mowalola Ogunlesi, the Nigerian-born, London-based designer hired by West in 2020 to head his Yeezy Gap collaboration.
“They design it and have an in-house team that creates everything in a day,” said a second designer who has worked with West but asked to remain anonymous.
Stressing that there is no “structural” process to the creation of the clothes, Ogunlesi explained: “They just buy tights and style it and cut it on [Censori] … Usually they get Wolford. Tights are not safe when they’re around.”
She added that the deconstructed hosiery looks are being put together, under West and Censori’s direction, by Laura Beham of the Zurich-based design collective Proto-types, which used upcycled outfits from Yeezy — West’s fashion line that spawned now defunct sneaker collaboration with Adidas — in their Spring 2024 collection.
Those looks include face coverings shrouded in fabric and arm-binding pockets, which line up with Censori’s recent wardrobe.
When alerted that The Post had been told she is the designer behind Censori’s looks, Beham replied by text with a heart.
Architectural designer Censori, 28, “married” her Yeezy boss in a non-legally binding ceremony in January — two months after his divorce from Kim Kardashian — and has been evoking sheer madness ever since.
Since June, she has stepped out in Tokyo, Berlin, Florence and Venice in a series of skin-tight, sometimes very sheer bodysuits and barely-there bra tops made of tights material. But there have been some high-design moments.
Censori, who is from Australia, turned heads at Ogunlesi’s Mowalola show at London Fashion Week on September 15, wearing a swimsuit-like Marni bodysuit paired with a matching fluffy head piece.
In June, she wore an arm-binding bodysuit and condom-like head covering, topped with what looked like a cushioned tire shielding her from shoulders to ears. According to Ogunlesi, the top piece is vintage Maison Margiela.
After Censori was seen leaving a Florence hotel in early September, wearing sheer nude tights and holding a a purple pillow in front of her breasts — which Ogunlesi told The Post was likely from the couple’s hotel room — some, including comedian Kathy Griffin, wondered if West was “controlling” his wife.
But Ogunlesi, who has designed looks for Kardashian and daughter North West, insists that Censori and the “Jesus Walks” rapper are working in tandem.
“She [Bianca] has a lot of say in what she wants to wear. Everything Bianca is wearing is really from her and Ye’s brain,” the designer said. “They want to show people that you can do this yourself. It’s stuff that’s attainable — tights.
“With tights, you can cut them and sew it — if it doesn’t work out you can put on another pair.”
Ogunlesi herself whipped up Censori’s black-tape outfit, for a May photo shoot, in “under an hour.” It consisted of a square of tape covering Censori’s breasts, a strip over her privates, and a buttocks-baring cross shape.
“It was so difficult to try and do that with fabric because of its limitations. We just got black tape and created the look with tape on her,” Ogunlesi said.
Insiders say it’s unlikely West will partner with a major fashion house in the future, following his inflammatory anti Semitic comments that prompted brands like Adidas, Balenciaga and Gap to drop him in October 2022. Loyal Yeezy employees, however, are apparently sticking by the rapper, despite the label having ceased production.
“He supports a lot of us who work at Yeezy – he’s just kind of building his own fashion nation based on freedom rather than having a boardroom of white people in suits telling you how to create or define your brand,” Ogunlesi said.
As for West’s ongoing fashion collaboration with Censori — his “muse,” multiple sources told The Post — Ogunlesi added: “I feel like they really don’t give a f–k about anything other than the things they want to do. Luckily they don’t have to survive off their art at the moment, so the


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If you want to install a computer with almost the same configuration today, does it feel much more expensive than it was three years ago?
In fact, this is not an illusion.
MindFactory, a German e-commerce company, recently compared the average price of the Intel/AMD platform motherboard sold in November 2020 and March 2023, and the results were very touching.
Three years ago, the average price of the motherboard of the AMD chipset sold was about 120.5 euros; the Intel was 140.78 euros.
In the week that ended in March this year, the average price of the motherboard of the AMD chipset reached 163euros, and 197euros on the Intel side, up 35 per cent and 40 per cent respectively.
How exaggerated is this number?
We take into account the monetary factor, that is, inflation. From 1997 to 2023, the average inflation rate in Europe was 1.95%.Even factoring in the highest 9.9 per cent in 2022, AMD/Intel motherboard prices outperformed regional inflation by 10 to 16 percentage points.
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Kim Kardashian West Joins The Iconic Sharon Strzelecki For An Uber Eats Ad!
The pairing of iconic netball player Sharon Strzelecki and Kim Kardasahin West can only be described as ‘noice, different, unusual!’
Starring in a new ad campaign for Uber Eats the two ‘friends’ are seen lounging on the couch in their netball gear as they share what they’ll be ordering from Uber Eats.
Sharon (aka Magda Szubanski) is carb loading with some gnocchi and garlic bread while Kimmy opts for a schnitty and chips with chicken salt. Honestly, it’s worth watching just to hear Kim say “chicken schnitty”.
The highlight is when Sharon attempts to correct Kim as she mispronounces the word nice…or should we say ‘noice.’ Of course Kim ‘literally has no idea what Sharon is talking about!’
Lisa Wilkinson revealed last night on The Project that the commercial was filmed in Los Angeles and took 12 hours to shoot, with 150 staffers on set. While we’re sure the budget on this was major, feedback from viewers so far has been positive with many saying it was definitely worth the effort.
There’s also a behind the scenes clip with Kim sporting Sharon’s iconic bowl haircut herself. Seriously, what a great sport!
Kim Kardashian West is just the latest celebrity to team up with Uber Eats. Aussie stars Sophie Monk, Lee Lin Chin and Ray Martin have done their own hilarious appearances for Uber Eats in the past.
Which one’s your favourite?


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With the Zoom call underway, Allyxon Cua clarified; “this has been a total overhaul of our business, we’ve turned our company 360 degrees”.
Phil-Data is turning the unpredictable and challenging impact of Covid-19 into a positive, prioritising digitalisation amid a return to market growth.
VMware has rolled out new cloud advancements across Southeast Asia to help customers reposition for growth, supported by channel partners.
CAT Telecom will capitalise on increased appetite for cloud adoption in Thailand through leveraging AWS Outposts to target enterprise customers.
Aruba is prioritising the delivery of business continuity solutions across Southeast Asia as Covid-19 challenges continue to rise, supported by channel partners.
MFEC is increasing efforts to help customers adjust to new business realities in Thailand through increased reliance on Cisco Webex.
Partners are primed and ready to help Indonesia capitalise on the potential of cloud, following the launch of a Google Cloud region in Jakarta.
Nimbus has deployed VMware technologies and Internet Thailand expertise to accelerate digital transformation efforts of more than 20,000 Thai wholesalers.
As Singapore embraces phase 2 and the steady reopening of the economy, the initial circuit breaker measures of early April appear a distant memory.
Rick Harshman has outlined a three-step Covid-19 exit strategy for customers and partners, centred around “recover, adjust, then build”.
InfoFabrica is prioritising the enhancement of managed services capabilities amid the development of IP to accelerate cloud migration.
Leading vendors outline key marketing challenges while documenting examples of best practice and revamped engagement strategies in 2020.
Select vendors have laid out financial support packages for partners in response to widespread criticism of superficial Covid-19 relief efforts.
In the world of Covid-19, the age-old adage that 'cash is king' has never carried more significance for MSPs.
Vendors can help partners overcome escalating economic challenges related to Covid-19 through a commitment to three types of support packages.
NTT is prioritising the delivery of ‘high-value’ services through a deepened focus on software, cloud, consulting and globally delivered support offerings.
As MSPs respond to escalating Covid-19 challenges, creating new market and economic realities in the process, business and personal pressures continue to mount.
Vendors are spectacularly missing the mark in managing the fallout of Covid-19 in the channel, with partners in Asia Pacific condemning current relief efforts.
In the case of Covid-19 - a once in a generation crisis - it’s accurate to report that the channel ecosystem is under water.
In leveraging multiple decades of channel experience, this guide is designed to help distributors overcome market challenges related to Covid-19.
Much like customers, partners also require guidance on the key technologies and markets to pursue. Read the Channel Roadmap to build a blueprint for future success.. Read more


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Data Centre and Cloud Technology are the backbone of the digital economy. All businesses and sectors that leverage the internet to collect data, must store their data at a data center, or in the cloud. Globally both systems have been acknowledged as instrumental to economic growth and expansión.
But this vital organ powering the growth of the Nigerian digital economy has not been properly engaged and facilitated in terms of policy making in Nigeria. The issues and challenges they face are moreso unresolved, and sometimes unknown.
What is the way forward?
Nigeria’s leading digital advocacy organization, The centre for Cyber Awareness and Development (CECAD) leveraging on her official Publication, Cyber Africa Magazine will bring together DSOs, CIOs, CTOs, and data scientists to the Fourth Cyber Africa Breakfast Series, in order to discuss Data Center and Cloud Technology. The meeting is tagged: The Nigerian Data Economy in the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
Addressing newsmen in Hilary Damissah, Lagos the editor in chief, Cyber Africa Magazine, explained that
“the role of data centers and cloud technology must be acknowledged if Nigeria must make progress in the ongoing fourth Industrial revolution. How our data is collected, used, and stored must be enhanced, secured, reliable, and sustainable. Moreso, in order to avoid a digital colonisation of Nigeria, our data must be integrated and anchored on Nigerian soil, so we must do all we can to support this. The questions we’ll be looking at include: the challenges facing players in the space, what are the possible solutions ? What are the future business opportunities in cloud and data centers? And more.
Also, Mojisola Alabi, program co-ordinator, stated that the Idea of Cyber Africa Breakfast Series is to
“bring the core players in major aspects of the digital economy to discuss how to move their specific industry forward. The breakfast series has been focusing on different subject matter in recent years including: Digital Literacy, Internet and Broadband Penetration, Agrictech, Health tech, and now Cloud and Data Centers.” She explained. “Our aim is to foster meaningful development of the emerging Sub-Saharan in the tech ecosystem.
Alabi further added that major players in the Data and Cloud sector like Rack Center, Medallion Communications, Galaxy Backbone, MdXi, Interconnect Clearing House, Nigeria Communication Commission, National Identity Management Commission, NIMC, and more will be present to network and brainstorm, under a relaxed atmosphere and a sumptuous breakfast.
The Center for Cyber Awareness and Development, CECAD,, is committed to a cyber responsible Nigeria, where the internet and cyberspace is deployed for good causes like job creation, sociocultural advancement, entrepreneurship, good governance, education and national development among others.
– Apr. 25, 2019 @ 03:39 GMT |


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A consortium of Singapore banks today announced it will launch an Internet-based billing and payment service by early next year, using IBM software and hardware. But Netscape announced Monday that Citibank would use Netscape's new online billing software--also in Singapore.
Singapore's Network of Electronic Transfers (NETS), a consortium of seven Singapore banks, already offers a network of kiosks for ticket purchases and payments, a smart card for e-cash, and an Internet-based credit card processing system.
Its e-billing service, called e-BX, allows companies to post bills and invoices to their customers through a secure Web site. Customers can log in to view and pay their bills through participating banks.
Citibank will pilot its system, using Netscape's new BillerXpert software, early next year in Singapore, but it intends to expand the system throughout Southeast Asia from that Singapore base.
Reuters contributed to this report.


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Over 3,200 people attended a webinar organised by The British Institute of Kitchen, Bedroom & Bathroom Installation (BiKBBI) this week on how installers can return to work safely and in accordance with government guidance.
The highly successful webinar looked at practical measures that installers should take when returning to work. Their adoption of these safe operating procedures can help to stimulate the market through the provision of peace of mind to consumers, the webinar explained, as well as safeguard the health and safety of themselves, their co-workers and the customers they serve.
The 50-minute webinar, which will be repeated weekly over the next three weeks, is open to the entire industry free of charge. It also explores the importance of installation in consumer decision making processes.
BiKBBI retail officer Tanya Duffy said: “Most people will now view their homes as a place of safety and somewhere the virus cannot penetrate easily. The thought of allowing tradespeople into their safe place may very well be a step too far for many and therefore influence their decision to shelve the project. This would be devastating for our industry. Anything the industry can do to provide peace of mind around installation is critical in our opinion and therefore this is a new phase our organisation will enter – and that is regardless of whether the retailer offers installation or not.”
Visit here to find out more.


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Indian government bans 59 Chinese apps including TikTok, SHAREit, Helo
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29 JUNE 2020 09:52 IST | ENGLISH | URBAN | GENERAL AUDIENCE
The unprecedented by the Government of India to dismantle the Chinese economy and by boycotting Chinese goods has taken a new turn. The Indian government has decided to ban 59 Chinese mobile applications amid the border clashes and the Chinese betrayal at Galwan. Various mobile applications that are popular in the country have been banned including Tiktok, CamScanner, Shein, ShareIt, UC Browser, and several others. This move has been one of the greatest moves after the Indian government asked various unions to stop endorsing Chinese products and applying a complete ban on Chinese goods. Watch the video to know more!


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In early September Sneaker News confirmed the releases of the Air Jordan XII Retro for Summer 2012, introducing a thought-provoking Cool Grey/Team Orange-White colorway for May 2012. Here we have a first glance at the upcoming release, which features a Grey/White upper – almost like a reverse-blocking of the Air Jordan XII ‘Flint Grey’ – with team orange being spotted on the inner face of the tongue. Team Orange will likely be used to accent the sneaker on the logo as well, but that remains to be seen. Should we expect more Air Jordan colorways mimicking the Charlotte Bobcats uniforms, considering Jordan is majority-owner of the team? Take a look at the extra snapshot below and let us know what you think. via MN.
Air Jordan XII
Cool Grey/Team Orange-White


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We anticipated it a few days ago, now Tamron made it official.
Tamron announces the development of three lenses – two for full-frame DSLRs and one for full-frame mirrorless cameras
February 20, 2019, Saitama, Japan – Tamron Co., Ltd. (President & CEO: Shiro Ajisaka), a leading manufacturer of optics for diverse applications, announces the development of two new lenses for full-frame DSLR cameras
- the 35-150mm F/2.8-4 Di VC OSD (Model A043) zoom lens and the SP 35mm F/1.4 Di USD (Model F045) fixed focal lens; and a new high-speed ultra wide-angle zoom lens for Sony E-mount full-frame mirrorless cameraa
- the 17-28mm F/2.8 Di III RXD (Model A046).
Tamron will display these new lenses at CP+ 2019, the World Premiere show for camera and photo imaging, beginning February 28 through March 3, 2019 at Pacifico Yokohama.


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Over thirty years ago we began producing daily radio news casts aired throughout Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Northern California to keep the region informed about current agriculture and environmental issues.
Several farm and consumer groups are seeking to derail the proposed deal Monsanto has offered to Syngenta as a possible merger/takeover. Ag Professional reports coalitions of opponents are being formed and market analysis are being conducted. It comes though
Following what the L.A. Times called a disappointing round of talks in Hawaii, negotiators for the 12 nations included in the Trans-Pacific Partnership are still hoping to wrap the trade deal up sometime this month. It's almost cer
Iteris, Inc. , a leader in providing information solutions to the transportation and agriculture markets, has entered into an agreement to provide custom weather and soil data to localize growth and disease models for growers via Iteris' precision farming data delivery platform, ClearAg™. Users will gain
Direct from the pages of the Idaho Statesman: “A federal judge ruled last week that an Idaho law making it illegal to secretly film animal abuse at agricultural facilities violates the right to free speech.The effect of th
USDA’s Risk Management Agency reminds producers in Idaho, Oregon, Colorado and Washington of the fast approaching 2016 sales closing deadlines for federal crop insurance programs. Producers need to buy, review, or modify their crop insurance policies for most fall-planted crops with winter coverage before the sales closing date of September 30 has passed.
Farm groups are disappointed that Congress failed to pass a long-term highway funding bill before its August recess. Congress voted to extend the United States Highway Trust Fund's authorization through Oct. 29, the second
Scientists with the US Department of Agriculture have found the bacterium that causes E.coli in humans, is more likely to contaminate lettuce when downy mildew is already present. Microbiologist Maria Brandl has been investigating why so many E. coli outbreaks
Beef producers from several countries are calling for a high-quality market access deal on beef to be secured at the TPP ministerial meeting in Hawaii this week. The Five Nations Beef Alliance says after five years of negotiations, the TPP must not be allowed to drift or lose momentum. The FNBA has co
Six companies are facing fines for selling fruits and vegetables imported from Mexico, China, Thailand, and Taiwan that were tainted with pesticides that are banned in the UC. The California Department of Pesticide Regulation says the companies were importing and selling produce to stores that primarily cater to California’s ethnic communities, and that the companies were given ample opportunities to change their methods but chose not to do so. The companies a
Trans-Pacific Partnership talks kick off today in Hawaii, in what could be the final round of negotiations ahead of finalizing a trade-pact. The Trans-Pacific Partnership includes the United States and 11 Pacific Rim countries. The TPP trade d
A bill that would make GMO labeling voluntary passed the U.S. House last Thursday. The Safe and Accurate Food Labeling Act would require developers of genetically engineered plants to obtain FDA safety clearance on all new plant varieties before those foods are introduced into commerce; uphold FDA’s authority to specify special labeling if it finds a health or safety risk is posed by such a variety; create a legal framework governing the use of label claims regarding either the absence or presence of GMOs in a food product and require the FDA to define the term ‘natural’ on food labels.
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Got a new Apple iOS 7-based Apple iPad, iPad Mini or iPhone? Make sure you've set all your privacy settings in Safari. Here's a quick and dirty guide ...
Apple RSS feed for this section
January 21, 2014 |
January 16, 2014 |
Ex-Nokia industrial designer and Unmonday founder Jarkko Jämsén announces multi-channel, wireless, hexagonal-shaped speakers for Apple devices. Here's more.
January 16, 2014 |
The latest rev of News Republic is out. And it learns from what you read. Here's what's new in News Republic 4.0 for Android, Apple iOS. It's aNewDomain ... Alan Wallace's freeware pick.
January 12, 2014 |
Our Ant Pruitt previews the Typo Keyboard for Apple iPhone. This QWERTY Bluetooth keyboard slips on the iPhone 5 and 5s -- and it even fits Ant's giant hands. CES 2014.
January 4, 2014 |
My friend and colleague, Jason Pierson, was so frustrated at his iPod issues that he had to draw a cartoon about it.
December 10, 2013 |
Keeping your Apple iPhone and Apple iPad secure is a must. Here's a rundown of Apple iOS 7 security features and how to use them right away. Step by step How To Gallery roundup.
October 26, 2013 |
News reports on Apple founder Steve Wozniak dissing the new Apple iPad are everywhere. But reporter Gina Smith, who spent two years interviewing Wozniak for their book iWOZ, was suspicious. Wozniak told Gina today it just isn't true. Find his full comments here. aNewDomain exclusive.
October 7, 2013 |
With the release of iOS 7 Apple claims to have changed the face of smartphones. This is, after all, the first major launch since Job’s passing. What does Apple want, what does its new world look like, and what does it change?
September 18, 2013 |
So focused on the Apple iOS 7 release details today that you missed key news about Apple iTunes 11.1, iTunes Radio and more? Here's a deep dive ... here's the big stuff you need to know about. Apple iOS 7 overshadowed it all. Our co-founder Brian Burgess .. to the rescue.
September 18, 2013 |
With all the new Apple iOS 7 changes -- mainly its new multitasking -- there are some big UI changes that will drive some folks nuts. Here are the biggest hassles the iOS 7 changes bring. And some raging back and forth with our mobile experts on the team who, quite clearly, think I'm full of it.
September 17, 2013 |
On This Week in Tech with Leo Laporte, our John C. Dvorak, Robert Scoble and Peter Cohen join to talk iPhones, 64-bit tech and the John C. Dvorak hot dog.
September 9, 2013 |
What are you looking for in the iPhone announcement today? New tools, features or specs?
September 2, 2013 |
It's This Week in Tech with Leo Laporte. This week, our John C. Dvorak joins the panel to talk Apple iPhone 5S surprises, Android issues, Google car, wearable tech, Steve Ballmer's exit from Microsoft and more. It's TWiT -- the week in tech news reviewed.. Watch This Week in Tech with Leo Laporte here every week at aNewDomain.net.
September 1, 2013 |
Today's featured video is the Apple iPad vs Windows 8.1 parody video. The truth, it's funny. Depending on whose side you're on, of course.
August 28, 2013 |
Apple iPhone fingerprint tech will land on an Apple iPhone, maybe this year. Here's how our Peter Galvin says Apple should use it - and why you should care.
July 19, 2013 |
Here's how to deal with huge music collections. Here are iTunes 11 tips, apps, and down and dirty workarounds from our Peter Baer Galvin
June 11, 2013 |
It's WWDC 2013 -- top of the news for Sandy Berger are the Apple iOS 7 improvements, a sneak peek at a new Mac Pro and Macho Siri ... keynote here.
May 30, 2013 |
Apple's $229 iPod Touch, fifth generation, will ship in 24 hours. It's a 16GB version, rendering useless the 16GB fourth gen models. No rear-facing camera ..
April 24, 2013 |
aNewDomain.net -- That went by fast. April 28, 2013 marks a decade of iTunes. Apple iTunes is 10 years old. Here's how it rose from the ashes of Napster, where it's heading, plus infographics and more.
April 23, 2013 |
If you think your net connection is slow, try one in China -- and with a proxy. Our Todd Moore and Oscar Santana discuss their trip to China as well as app picks this week on Tech 411, regularly syndicated here at aNewDomain.net. Hun hao!